TECHNOLOGY PoE

PoE:
Power over
Ethernet
Stefan Tauschek (Scantec)

Providing power to apparatus over network cables has always been usual practice for fixed-
line telephones, and now the same capabilities are becoming available on wired Ethernet. The
IEEE 802.3af PoE (Power over Ethernet) standard allows up to 13 watts to be supplied and its
successor, PoEPlus (802.3at), allows up to 30 watts. In this article we look at how it works in
theory and in practice.

Power over Ethernet (PoE) allows power to be supplied to IEEE standard PoE
all kinds of devices, from access points to IP cameras. Alt-
hough users will be happy to be relieved of the problem IEEE standard 802.3af defines PoE. The standard speci-
of finding a spare mains socket when connecting up their fies how both data and power are delivered over a net-
latest gadget, things are not so easy for the manufacturer work cable (generally Cat 5 or Cat 5e). An extension to
of networking equipment. A 24-port switch fully fitted out the standard, 802.3at, is already being worked on. It will
with PoE needs a power supply with a rating of nearly allow for higher power levels, sufficient to supply laptops,
1 kW. High-efficiency switching supplies and careful power video phones and high-power WLAN access points without
management are thus needed. the need for separate mains adaptors.
In delivering power over a network cable PoE is reminiscent
of analogue fixed-line telephone systems (POTS, or Plain
Old Telephone System) which provide phantom power to
apparatus over the a- and b-wires. PoE allows a modern
VoIP telephone to be powered in a similar way, without
needing a separate mains supply.
Switch
PSE
(power The problem of thin wires
transmitter)
Delivering electrical power over a Cat 5 Ethernet cable pre-
Midspan PSE
sents some technical difficulties. The conductors used are typi-
Figure 1. cally AWG 24 (approximately 0.5 mm diameter) and have a
Power can be supplied via resistance of around 94 7 per kilometre. The figure is slightly
endspan PSEs (PoE-capable higher than might be expected because the individual twis-
switches or hubs) or via ted conductors in 1 km of cable are slightly more than 1 km
PD
midspan PSEs with normal (power long. If we consider the maximum cable run for a single seg-
receiver) ment of an Ethernet network (100 m) and use four conductors
switches or hubs. The
connected device which IP Phone WAP Security to carry power, we can expect a total loop resistance in the
receives power is known
Camera
region of 10 7. If the connected device needs say 10 W of
as a PD. power at 5 V the current drawn will be 2 A and the cable

40 elektor - 12/2008
will drop 20 V and dissipate an astonishing 40 watts!
The conclusion is clear. To reduce losses in the cables we
need to use higher voltages at lower currents to send power
to the attached client devices, each of which will contain
a DC-to-DC converter to reduce the voltage to the required
level at a higher current. In the PoE standard the nominal
voltage supplied is 48 V (with an acceptable range being
36 V to 57 V) at a maximum of 350 mA. This means the
system is covered by the SELV (safety extra-low voltage)
regulations [1]. Figure 2.
In a Fast Ethernet system
Even at this voltage there is a noticeable voltage drop: power can be supplied over
0.35 A times 10 7 is 3.5 V. The network cable dissipates the two spare conductor
up to 1.2 W. DC-to-DC converters at both the supply and cli- pairs.
ent end ensure stability of the final supply voltage.

PoE topology
As Figure 1 shows, a PoE system consists of a source (the
PSE, or Power Sourcing Equipment) and a number of sinks
(PDs, or Powered Devices). There are two types of PSE: so-
called endspan devices and midspan devices. The former
are sources of data packets and current, while the latter pass
data packets through and add PoE.
Figure 2 shows how the unused pins 4 and 5 (positive) and
7 and 8 (negative) of an RJ45 connector can be used in
10BASE-T and 100BASE-T systems. An alternative is shown Figure 3.
in Figure 3, where phantom power is supplied on data pins Phantom power uses the
1, 2, 3 and 6. data conductors and hence
is also compatible with
Phantom power exploits the fact that Ethernet connections gigabit Ethernet.
provide galvanic isolation between pairs of connected
devices using a transformer at each end. It is therefore pos-
sible to add a DC voltage to the signals using the centre taps
of the transformers, without adverse effect on signal quality.
This form of PoE is generally preferred as with existing instal- PSE
Voltage

lations it is not always certain that the so-called spare pairs 57V
On Range

are actually connected in the cables or connectors. In Giga- 42V

36V
bit Ethernet systems there are no spare pairs, as all eight con-
ductors are used (in four differential pairs) for data transfer. 20V5
Class Event

In Intermediate state,
voltage may range Classification
as shown until full Range
power is applied
PoE operation 14V5

10V0
At power-up a PSE device must first determine whether any 7V
V2

PDs are connected and what their power requirements are, V1

and check that there are no short-circuits in the network. 2V7 Reset
Time Figure 4.
Reset Signature Classification Intermediate-Idle ON
To this end the PoE standard specifies a signalling protocol Signalling protocol for
whereby the necessary information is exchanged at boot 802.3af PoE.
time to ensure effective power management.
After reset or power-up the so-called signature detection
sequence starts (yellow area in Figure 4). The PSE provides
a 0.1 V/s voltage ramp in the range from 2.7 V to 10 V. By
carrying out two impedance measurements it can determine Table 1
whether a PD is connected. If the detected impedance lies in The 802.3af standard defines four power classes plus a reserved class, which
the range 15 k7 to 33 k7 the classification phase begins. is used for PoEPlus.
If an impedance outside this range is detected, power is Class Use Signature PSE power PD power
disabled on the connection. < 5.0 0.44 W to
0 standard a 15.4
mA 12.95 W
The next step is to determine the power classification of
the PD. During this phase the PSE raises the voltage into 10.5 0.44 W to
1 optional a 4.0
the range 14.5 V to 20.5 V. The PD should draw a sig- mA 3.84 W
nature current which signals its power class to the PSE. 18.5 3.84 W to
2 optional a 7.0
The PSE can then determine the PDs power requirement. mA 6.49 W
The 802.3af standard specifies five power classes (see 28.0 6.49 W to
Table 1). 3 optional a 15.4
mA 12.95 W

When classification is complete the PSE raises the phantom 40.0

4 reserved reserved reserved
mA
supply voltage to its nominal value of 48 V. The maximum

12/2008 - elektor 41
TECHNOLOGY PoE

to 720 mA from 350 mA and the maximum permissible

PSE
Voltage cable temperature is set at 45 C.
57V On Range
PSEs designed according to the new standard can be used
42V with old PDs. On the other hand, new PDs can of course
36V
PoE (802.3af)
Startup
not draw the full 30 watts from an old-style PSE. The new
Class Event 1
Class
Event 2
parts of the system are accommodated by extending the
20V5

Classification
classification procedure. As Figure 5 shows, there are
Range
now two classification pulses. PDs conforming to PoEPlus
14V5
must initially identify themselves as class 4 devices. During
PoE (802.3at)
Startup

10V0
V2 Mark Range
the extra classification pulse they must then draw a signa-
7V
Figure 5. V1
Reset
ture current of 40 mA. A PoE standard device will ignore
The classification phase
2V7
Time the second pulse, allowing a clear distinction to be made
in 802.at consists of two
Reset Signature Classification Intermediate-Idle ON
between PoE and PoEPlus devices.
pulses.

Practical implementation
Many companies, including Linear Technology, Texas Instru-
ments and National Semiconductor, are already producing
chips to support PoE technology. Because of their high level
of integration we will look below in greater detail at prod-
ucts from Akros Silicon, a relatively young company.

The AS1113, AS1124, AS1130 and AS1135 are PoE

controllers fabricated using a standard high-voltage CMOS
process. They are physically small and have a high level
of integration. The AS1113 implements the 802.3af stand-
Figure 6. ard, delivering up to 13 W of power. The most recent mem-
The AS1135 controller is ber of the family, the AS1135 (Figure 6), is designed for
available in a 5 mm square PoEPlus applications and can deliver output powers from
QFN package. 13 W to 30 W. Since the various PoE devices from Akros
Silicon are pin-compatible with one another, system manu-
facturers can lay out a single printed circuit board for both
high- and low-power devices, avoiding the need for com-
plete re-designs.
10/100/1000
RJ45 GMII Processor
PHy
The PoE ICs include a current-mode DC-to-DC converter with
soft-start and current limiting functions.
Local Power (10-57V)
Using suitable external components, flyback, forward or
AS1135 buck configurations can be realised, and both isolated and
Surge
Protection
Local
non-isolated devices are supported.
Adapter
Control
Signature
Extended
Current
Limit/
Sense DC-DC
The AS1135 example circuit has particularly high efficiency
Classification
& MPS
Controller

with
thanks to an active rectifier, where the conventional second-
UVLO
Thermal
Managed
Emissions ary switching diode is replaced by a synchronously-con-
Limit Control
Figure 7. Protection AT
Detection trolled FET. This technique avoids the otherwise inevitable
ADET
Block diagram of a PoE PD Controller forward voltage drop of 0.5 V or more associated with
DC-to-DC converter using Schottky diodes, substituting the voltage drop across the
an AS1135. very low channel on resistance of a modern MOSFET. This
saves up to 0.5 W or even more at higher currents.

losses in the cable are such that at least 37 V appears

at the PD at a current of 350 mA, for a total power of PoEPlus using the AS1135
12.95 W. The design we describe here is based on the Akros Sili-
con reference design. The AS1135 [2] is the first control-
There is thus a total of three phases: detection, classifica- ler device to support the provisional 802.3at (Draft 3.0)
tion, and application of power (operation). There are vari- standard, which uses a double pulse during the classifica-
ous timing requirements that must be observed. For exam- tion phase. It is therefore backwards compatible and can
ple, under PoEPlus, signature pulses can last a maximum of be used as a PD adaptor in power-drawing devices and in
30 ms and the gap between them can be at most 12 ms. PoE-standard PSEs.

The highly-integrated DC-to-DC converter drives an external

More power power switch and monitors the current through the primary
The successor to PoE, IEEE 802.3at or PoEPlus or PoEP- winding of a transformer. It provides a soft-start function.
lus, is under development. It is backwards compatible with The switching frequency can be set using a resistor in the
802.3af and will allow up to 30 W to be delivered to a PD. range 100 kHz to 500 kHz: in the example circuit we have
The standard mandates the use of Cat 5e cabling and the selected 350 kHz. The transformers do not need to be made
PSE voltage range is raised from between 44 V and 57 V specially: suitable types are available from distributors such
to between 50 V and 57 V. The maximum current is raised as Coilcraft, Halo Electronics and Wrth Elektronik.

42 elektor - 12/2008
 37V-57V
J17 R73 53.6k
1 C30
LVMODE

Line Interface and PD 2

.1uF 80V
RJ1 802.3at Detect R74 6.04K NL
VBN {3}
RJ2 LED3
17 11 C36 0.1uF D13 LN1351CTR
YLED+ TRD1+ NDRV {3}
BLM18EG221SN1D 18 YLED- TRCT1 12 1 S3B-13 Green
2.0 A TRD1- 10 2
4 C34 0.1uF 3
L3 TRD2+
13 CT1 TRCT2 6 4
L4 14 5 5
L5 CT2 TRD2- C41 0.1uF
15 SP1 TRD3+ 3 6
L6 16 1 7
SP2 TRCT3

20
19
18
17
16
TRD3- 2 8
220 Ohm @ 100 Mhz 8 C45 0.1uF U4
220 Ohm @ 100 Mhz 19 TRD4+
7

ATDET
FSEL
NC2

VBN
NDRV
220 Ohm @ 100 Mhz 20 GLED+ TRCT4 95001-2881
GLED- TRD4- 9
220 Ohm @ 100 Mhz 15
CS CS {3}
21 1 14 CSS
SHLD1 NC CSS
22 SHLD2 {3} VDD48O 2 VDD48O COMP 13 COMP {3}
3 NC1 FB 12 FB {3}
BELFUSE MAGJACK 4 11
VDD48I LVMODE
0838-1X1T-W7 5 GND

RCLASS
RCURR
EPAD 21 LVMODE

GND1
GND2
VDD5
R70
BRD GND BRD GND
AS1135

6
7
8
9
10
20k
C12

180nF

D11 D10
CBRHDSH1-100/DF02S CBRHDSH1-100/DF02S R7

+
D14
R35 C23 R8 R71
~

~
C1 NL
4.02K BZT5V6 .5W
26.7K 1%
.1uF 100V 63.4K 1%
100nF
-

-
Dual footprint bridge Central Semi or Fairchild. Figure 8.
Connecting an AS1135 to
the Ethernet cable.

PD circuit Since in practice it is not known in advance whether a

device capable of being powered using PoE will actually
The Ethernet cable from a switch or midspan is terminated be used in a network that supports it, devices also need to
using a Belfuse RJ45 socket/transformer, which supports be able to accept power from an external mains adaptor.
data rates up to 1 Gbit/s and which is designed for use in This is very straightforward to set up using the Akros control-
PoE applications. As can be seen in Figure 7, the centre lers. An external voltage between 10 V and 57 V is applied
taps are taken via a bridge rectifier to the voltage input via a diode to pin VDD48O and simultaneously via an RC
VDD48I of the IC. In the practical circuit shown in Figure 8, network to LVMODE. This tells the controller that an external
all pairs are used and so two bridge rectifiers are provided. supply is available and VDD48I is isolated. The DC-to-DC
The signature current of 40 mA is set by resistor at Rclass, converter, however, remains active.
corresponding to power class 4 and thus also to PoEPlus.
The resistor at Rcurr sets the current limit: the pin being left The voltage regulator circuit proper, shown in Figure 9, is
open circuit corresponds to the maximum value of 900 mA. rather more complicated. The polarity-protected, rectified
The feedback pin FB is not used in the isolated buck/boost voltage from the Ethernet cable is taken from pin VDD48O
converter configuration, and so is taken to ground. The via a pi-filter which protects the LAN signal wires from inter-
capacitor on pin CSS sets the time constant for the soft-start ference. From there it goes to the primary side of a trans-
function: 100 nF gives a value of around 2 ms. former and thence to the primary switching transistor, which

DO1608C-103MLB
C4 L1
{2} VDD48O
.1uF 100V

+ C6
10u 1.1A
C7 C8
DC-DC Converter
10uF 100V
2.2uF 100V
C35

1nF 100V
R59
Halo: TGSP-P026EFD20LF
Coilcraft:GA3567-BL Option Filter Inductor J16
100K T3 Short across
1 7 L7 1
2 2
9 2.2uH,MSD1278
_ NL
C15 C26 HEADER 2x1
D6 + + .100x.100
R62 10 R61
4 47uF 47uF C38
B1100 8 16V 16V +
0.0
NL 3
R77 330uF, 16V
11
C16 C28 C40
Place C10 & C11 0.0 + +
5
6
7
8

close to AS1135 5
D12
12 47uF NL 10uF
Q3 R68 C42 220pF 50V 16V 16V
R57 0.0
{2} NDRV 4 100k
6 BZT52C16-7-F
Si4848DY 16V .5W
8 3
1
2
3

Q4 7 2
D8 6 1
R12 1K
{2} CS 5 IRF7807Z
BZT52C16-7-F
C11 16V .5W
R11
4

0.18
100pF
R16 8.87k 1%

R95
MBR0520LT1
R17
{2} VBN
R22
C10 C17 D19 D17 10 R64
R23 2.94K 825
330nF 4.7uF 3.32K
8V NL 2K
BZT52C5V1 .5W U19
1 NC LED 8
R56 6.19K 1%

{2} COMP 2 C FB 7 C21

C24
NL 2.2nF
C22 3 6
R83 D20 E COMP
0.47uF 24.9K NL 4 5
NC2 GND
BAS16W-TP
Q5
R86
C27 R26 FOD2712
BRD GND
15nF 2K NL
MMBT3906
1.4k NL
R84
C18
Figure 9.
11.5K NL 1.5uF NL
C13
4.7nF 2KV DC-to-DC flyback converter
C14
4.7nF 2KV
with an output power
Optional short circuit protection
of 30 W and active
rectification.

12/2008 - elektor 43
TECHNOLOGY PoE

tion to a minimum and the voltage between pins 5 and 6

About the author falls. Then Q5 starts to conduct and pulls the COMP pin
of the AS1135 to ground. This in turn limits the current to
Stefan Tauschek studied about 100 mA for as long as the short-circuit persists.
electronic engineering,
specialising in commu- The Fairchild FOD2712 optocoupler allows the AS1135
nications, at the Munich to monitor the output voltage. The frequency response of
University of Applied the negative feedback loop can be set using an extra RC
Sciences, and worked for
network to achieve stable operation with a quick control
several years developing
response and low overshoot.
multimedia compon-
ents, video processing
and streaming media The future: 60 W
technologies.
As standard PoE has become more widespread for local
He is now a technology area networks, more and more client devices have become
consultant at Scantec AG, able to make use of it. The power limit of 13 W offered
supporting industrial cu-
by 802.3af was, at the end of the 1990s when the stand-
stomers in projects invol-
ard was developed, entirely adequate as there were few
ving networking, telecommunications and automation.
devices capable of using phantom power and the Cat 3
E-mail: stefan.tauschek@scantec.de cable that was generally installed was not electrically suit-
able for providing more.

Since then things have changed: now Cat 5 and Cat 5e

cable are ubiquitous in network installations, offering
switches to ground. The device used here is a Si4848DY higher bandwidth and lower resistance. Also, there has
from Vishay, an N-channel MOSFET with an on resistance been a sharp growth in demand for devices such as VoIP
of around 100 m7 at a current of 3.5 A. Components R59, telephones, IP cameras and wireless access points, which
R62, C35 and D6 form a snubber network to suppress can all benefit from PoE.
spikes. Short-circuit protection on the secondary (device)
side is provided by a limiting circuit consisting of R83, C18 PoEPlus supports these developments by doubling the avail-
and Q5. In operation the voltage difference between pins able power to 30 W. But, adding to the performance also
5 and 6 of the transformer is about 6.5 V. This is sufficient provokes the desire: and so the IEEE 802.3at working
to ensure that transistor Q5 remains firmly off. If there is a group is now looking at how power levels of up to 60 W
short circuit at the output, the AS1135 sets the mark-space can be delivered using Cat 5e cable.
ratio of the switching pulses in flyback converter configura-
More power using fourr conductor pairs
Since the PoEPlus specification
specificaca stretches the physical capac-
ity of Cat 5e cabling and nd connectors to the limit, a further
doubling in power can only on be achieved by using greater
parallelisation. The IEEE working
wo group looking at this prob-
lem is therefore intending ng to consider delivering electrical
power over all four Ethernet
Ethe
he cable pairs rather than just
two. That would give a direct d doubling of power capacity
to 60 W. However, the e working group appears to have
suffered
su a case of coldol feet, as in Draft 3, dated March
col
20
2008, a powerr limit of 24 W for two pairs was
proposed
pr
proposed. ed There is considerable concern
er cable
over
ov c overheating, particularly in
larg
la rge networks with thick bundles of
rg
large
cabl
ca bl
cables, which could lead to damage
to tthe
he cable or even to fires. Whatever
vari
va riat
at
variation wins through, it is certain that
PoEP
Po EPluss in its final form will be specified
PoEPlus
forr powerr levels in excess of 30 W, divided
fo
over
over four papairs of conductors.
(080334-I)

Internet Linkss
Figure 10. The reference [1] SELV:
board from Akros Silicon, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra-low_voltage
http://en.wikipedia.org/
rg/
ready for operation. [2] AS1135 product pagpage:
http://www.akrossilicon.
on.
http://www.akrossilicon.com/products/as1135.html

44 elektor - 12/2008